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Reports of protests are overblown. A few incidents around the country, but nothing major.

5 (45.5%)

A few major incidents in capitals, but nothing much in DC.

5 (45.5%)

A major incident in DC, but nothing much around the country.

0 (0%)

More than 10 capitals have major upheavals, but nothing much in DC.

0 (0%)

A major incident in DC plus more than 10 capitals with significant upheavals.

1 (9.1%)

More than half the capitals around the country have problems with protesters, but DC is quiet.

0 (0%)

DC has major problems, while more than half the capitals around the country also have considerable trouble with protesters.

0 (0%)

Huge disruption to the day.

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 9

Voting closed: January 19, 2021, 10:49:21 PM

[bambu.]

https://www.foxnews.com/world/uk-wave-illegal-immigration-across-english-channel

People smugglers at it again.
The only answer is to "tow back the boats".
Shouldn't be long before the customers of the people smugglers start drowning ...just as happened en route to Australia.
The boats...inflatables, kayaks etc are leaving France...where is the French Navy?

[bambu.]

https://t.co/hUfOsiyjQo?fbclid=IwAR0BfD6Jz3_bwR7mgnyqN0fFrj4gI4BnBuWxgHoj6YR1EEIWcOGy4bjD590

Canada's last fully intact ice shelf has collapsed.

Ice ages come and go.

[bodiddley]

You certainly can quibble with Netanyahu.
But he was freely elected in a democratic state.
There will be NO democracy if Palestinians have there way.

So was Hitler.

When the Palestinians undertook democratic elections, Hamas won ... and Israel and the US went into overdrive to deny them power.  The result was that Fatah refused to turn over power in the West Bank and Hamas had to fight a civil war just to get to rule in Gaza.  And then Hamas rule there led to Israel slapping down a strenuous economic blockade.  Hamas actually won the democratic election and should have been in charge of governing the West Bank and Gaza.

It's an unfortunate fact that the US (and in this case Israel) only support democracy when they can control the outcome or ensure their allies win.  Same thing occurred earlier in Algeria which led to a prolonged civil war.

Mr. Barghouti describes Israel as an apartheid state, denigrating the true meaning of that term. With roughly 1.8 million Arab citizens of Israel, accounting for nearly 20% of the population, Israel has never practiced racial segregation; it is the only real democracy in the Middle East, where Arabs sit in the country’s Parliament

The apartheid elements are found in the West Bank and its bantustanization including checkpoints, a separation wall (purpose: segregation by race/ethnicity), impossibility of getting building permits, withholding tax payments to the PLO at will, etc. 

As for ME democracy:

Lebanon has been running one for decades.  It's proved massively corrupt for many reasons.

Iran actually has a thriving competitive democracy, albeit one with an overlayer of power in the hands of the religious clerics.  But real voting goes on, and the people's choice frequently prevails over the mullah's choice.
 
Turkey used to have a thriving democracy, but Erdogan has mostly delved into the Putin playbook, closed almost all independent media, thrown lots of journalists in jail, outlawed all Kurdish parties (because they prevented him from having a 2/3rds majority allowing him to change the constitution and political foundational rules)

Iraq has a fledgling democracy.

The Kurds in Iraq and Syria employ direct democracy, including mandatory term limits and gender equality.  In Iraqi Kurdistan, democracy actually dates back to the '90's when the US deployed a no-fly zone over the north and south of Iraq, keeping Saddam's troops out of the northern Kurdistan theater.  They run a de facto democratic state.

I'm not exactly sure what "the only real democracy" means.

[bodiddley]

You certainly can quibble with Netanyahu.
But he was freely elected in a democratic state.

So was Trump.

But instead of quibbling with Netanyahu, I'm lamenting that roughly 2/3rds of Israeli voters (too lazy to look it up) voted for right wing militaristic parties who advocate more oppression for the Palestinians.  Even a larger % when you add in the settler and fundamentalist parties. 

Labour, a socialist, peace-oriented party and traditionally one of two major parties in Israel along with Likud, has withered to the point where they managed only 3 seats of 120 in the Israeli parliament, and then to make matters worse they joined Netanyahu's coalition gov't.  So opposition to ruthless capitalism and militarism is moribund and completely neutered.

The decades without a peaceful solution has hardened positions on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, brought extremists to the fore and largely sidelined and reduced centrists.  Barghouthi seems to be part of that, the equivalent of those right wing Israelis who contend there are no such people as Palestinians or that the land was empty, or that Palestinians should be shunted off to Jordan, etc.

[Echo4]

https://t.co/hUfOsiyjQo?fbclid=IwAR0BfD6Jz3_bwR7mgnyqN0fFrj4gI4BnBuWxgHoj6YR1EEIWcOGy4bjD590

Canada's last fully intact ice shelf has collapsed.

Ice ages come and go.

And you can keep your eyes shut and ignore the evidence of man-caused climate change forever. We know. So, don't even bother responding to posts about the climate. We all know that you are determinedly ignorant.

[Echo4]

Bo, your version of Gazan history is fascinating.

[bodiddley]

My question would be how do you get Israel to moderate its behavior and allow a decent life in Gaza and some pathway to the end of half century occupation of the West

First explain how the Palestinians have moderated their behavior during the last century.

First, I think that's the entirely wrong question since the Palestinians aren't the oppressor, aren't the ones in violation of international law, aren't in control.

But the answer is rather obvious.  The Palestinian Authority has abided by the Oslo Accords, cooperates with Israel on all manner of security and economic issues, and polices the Palestinians in the West Bank, saving the Israeli army all the headaches and confrontations that used to cause.  Basically the PLO/Fatah has been bought off, and in exchange for taking a cut and lining their pockets, they assist Israel in maintaining West Bank oppression.  It was supposed to lead to a Palestinian state, but once Israel didn't have to police the Palestinian population anymore while still controlling the land and able to expand settlements with negligible opposition, the apartheid WB situation became tolerable and more sustainable for Israel.

The PLO which Israel always claimed was not a reliable partner, could not be trusted, would always be terrorists, etc. has become a regular steady partner with Israel.  Now of course Israeli says exactly the same things about Hamas.  Without realizing or acknowledging that it's only the oppression and occupation and injustice and violence that causes Hamas (and formerly the PLO) to act this way.

Sure the Palestinian Authority hasn't become 100% moderate and Israel has some minor issues with them such as compensating families of terrorists.  But that's really just a facade, the PA trying to pretend to its oppressed constituents that it is still involved in the struggle for a homeland, so they can maintain their corrupt positions and keep skimming money.

[bambu.]

https://t.co/hUfOsiyjQo?fbclid=IwAR0BfD6Jz3_bwR7mgnyqN0fFrj4gI4BnBuWxgHoj6YR1EEIWcOGy4bjD590

Canada's last fully intact ice shelf has collapsed.

Ice ages come and go.

And you can keep your eyes shut and ignore the evidence of man-caused climate change forever. We know. So, don't even bother responding to posts about the climate. We all know that you are determinedly ignorant.

Eyes wide open;

Even after those first scorching millennia, however, the planet has often been much warmer than it is now. One of the warmest times was during the geologic period known as the Neoproterozoic, between 600 and 800 million years ago. Jun 18, 2020

[bambu.]

You certainly can quibble with Netanyahu.
But he was freely elected in a democratic state.

So was Trump.

But instead of quibbling with Netanyahu, I'm lamenting that roughly 2/3rds of Israeli voters (too lazy to look it up) voted for right wing militaristic parties who advocate more oppression for the Palestinians.  Even likely a larger % if you add in the settler and fundamentalist parties. 

Labour, a socialist, peace-oriented party and traditionally one of two major parties in Israel along with Likud, has withered to the point where they managed only 3 seats in the 120 seat Israeli parliament, and then to make matters worse they voted to join Netanyahu's coalition gov't.  So opposition to ruthless capitalism and militaristic is moribund and completely neutered.

The decades without a peaceful solution has hardened positions on both the Israeli and Palestinian side, brought extremists to the fore and largely sidelined and redced centrists.  Barghouthi seems to be part of that, the equivalent of those right wing Israelis who contend there are no such people as Palestinians or that the land was empty, or that Palestinians should be shunted off to Jordan, etc.

Hard-line Israeli voters?
Of course.
Blame Hitler, Nazis, and the Holocaust.

Israel..."Jews last stand".

Muslims were relocated to Pakistan from India.
Easier for the world to cope with.

Palestinians relocated to Jordan? West Bank and Gaza incorporated into Israel?
Easier for the world to cope with?

[bambu.]

Fall semester COVID-19 protocols, to keep everybody safe.

Sending a message... that's the fenceline, the yard is not a neighbourhood park..."enter thru gate, keep off the grass".

[bodiddley]

you don't seem to realize that if the natural climate is becoming hotter AND man-made pollutants are warming the planet this combination is even worse than a stable climate with just man-made warming.

Sure climate change naturally occurs, but the issue is we've built our cities and civilizations to match with the current sea level, our food supply relies on current growing seasons, conditions, etc.

Climate change can and likely will lead to human disasters.

[bodiddley]

Hard-line Israeli voters?
Of course.
Blame Hitler, Nazis, and the Holocaust.

No.   Israel has always had a strong security posture out of necessity.
But Labour ran the gov't a good deal of the time.
Things have changed more recently, partly due to the influx of Russian Jews, partly due to the changed Palestinian situation and the growth of the settler movement.
It's been the Palestinian issue that has hardened positions.

[bodiddley]

I don't know how badly this will effect SD and Sturgis.
But I think the bigger worry is all these bikers are going to motor back to whatever populated place they come from, stopping on the way, after spending a week of spreading the virus to each other.  It's like a giant virus refueling stop in SD.

250K, so there's what possibly a few thousand infected, likely a few hundred infectious?  I'm guessing here, but somebody has it, transmission will occur, and it's not going to end well.  A truly stupid and irresponsible gathering.

[bodiddley]

Democratic National Convention

"It goes without saying that the party's two most popular figures," former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, will get a big role even with time so limited, Politico writes. Former President Bill Clinton and 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are in as well. But some Democrats have "grumbled" that if Hillary Clinton is appearing, failed nominees like Al Gore and John Kerry probably should too, per Politico. Others are worried about "spotlighting" Bill Clinton "in the #MeToo era," Politico continues.

former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who ran against President Trump in 2016 ... [will] speak on the same night as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) "in a demonstration of unity," Politico writes. Democrats are also reportedly on the lookout for veterans and Republicans with national security expertise to speak, though planning is still underway

I guess the Kasich catch makes sense as he's from battleground Ohio and you want to entice moderate republicans, the never-Trumpers to come out and vote for Biden.

Why Dems need GOPers to bolster their national security credentials, after the butchering that Trump and W Bush before him have done to our alliances, I don't understand.  W Bush's neo-conservative interventionalism and Trump's America First are both the wrong posture.  As is expanding the bloated and corrupt military budget.  But Dems never seem to make the case for reasonable diplomacy, responsible world stewardship, not wasting money on weapons not needed or even wanted in some cases, and a strong aversion to war.  Basically a sensible, centrist approach to foreign affairs which I believe most Americans support.

[LarryBnDC]

You certainly can quibble with Netanyahu.
But he was freely elected in a democratic state.
There will be NO democracy if Palestinians have there way.

So was Hitler.

When the Palestinians undertook democratic elections, Hamas won ... and Israel and the US went into overdrive to deny them power.  The result was that Fatah refused to turn over power in the West Bank and Hamas had to fight a civil war just to get to rule in Gaza.  And then Hamas rule there led to Israel slapping down a strenuous economic blockade.  Hamas actually won the democratic election and should have been in charge of governing the West Bank and Gaza.

It's an unfortunate fact that the US (and in this case Israel) only support democracy when they can control the outcome or ensure their allies win.  Same thing occurred earlier in Algeria which led to a prolonged civil war.

Mr. Barghouti describes Israel as an apartheid state, denigrating the true meaning of that term. With roughly 1.8 million Arab citizens of Israel, accounting for nearly 20% of the population, Israel has never practiced racial segregation; it is the only real democracy in the Middle East, where Arabs sit in the country’s Parliament

The apartheid elements are found in the West Bank and its bantustanization including checkpoints, a separation wall (purpose: segregation by race/ethnicity), impossibility of getting building permits, withholding tax payments to the PLO at will, etc. 

As for ME democracy:

Lebanon has been running one for decades.  It's proved massively corrupt for many reasons.

Iran actually has a thriving competitive democracy, albeit one with an overlayer of power in the hands of the religious clerics.  But real voting goes on, and the people's choice frequently prevails over the mullah's choice.
 
Turkey used to have a thriving democracy, but Erdogan has mostly delved into the Putin playbook, closed almost all independent media, thrown lots of journalists in jail, outlawed all Kurdish parties (because they prevented him from having a 2/3rds majority allowing him to change the constitution and political foundational rules)

Iraq has a fledgling democracy.

The Kurds in Iraq and Syria employ direct democracy, including mandatory term limits and gender equality.  In Iraqi Kurdistan, democracy actually dates back to the '90's when the US deployed a no-fly zone over the north and south of Iraq, keeping Saddam's troops out of the northern Kurdistan theater.  They run a de facto democratic state.

I'm not exactly sure what "the only real democracy" means.